During a three-year period to May 2009 and under the guise that he was an investment genius, Gordon A. Driver operated a clever Ponzi scheme that stole $14.3 million from more than 100 people in the U.S. and Canada.

Driver--who lives in Las Vegas and had operations in Mission Viejo and ties to Santa Ana--was terrific at duping investors with false documents and fancy talk that boasted of 43 percent monthly returns, but was in reality a horrible trader who lost money in 94 percent of his moves.

This week, a federal judge in Southern California sided with the United States Futures Trading Commission and handed Driver a whopping bill for his shenanigans: $41.4 million. U.S. District Court Judge Otis D. Wright, II ordered Driver--who
used a majority of the money he stole for a lavish lifestyle that
included Las Vegas casino gambling missions--to pay $9.6 million in
restitution plus a $31.8 million civil penalty.

Wright isn't messing
around. He expects all of the money to be paid by July 22. I'm guessing the
judge is unhappy that Driver continues to show no remorse.

There was a hearing at the Ontario Securities Commission of Canada over a year ago regarding this case. That hearing revealed that out of the 14 million dollars collected, 3 million was lost on the market, over 9 million was returned to investors before the CFTC stepped in. There was also charges to a third party for collecting 1.4 million, with testimony from an individual who admitted to all of the elements of extortion and blackmail of Gordon Driver. There were also broker statements presented that reflected over a 60% return during a period of four months generated from the custom trading software, that Gordon Driver designed, just prior to the CFTC stepping in. Just some other facts to consider.

I overheard some asshat pitching a ponzi scheme in my neighborhood: Min. $50k investment; all principal returned in 6 months, and a yearly return of 15%. Why do people fall for this stuff? And to answer the question of "How does that happen?" Well, the judge probably feels if you're stupid enough to fall for this nonsense, then you get what you deserve.